“Too many bad role models” at Cincinnati for Xavier Peters, so he knew UK was right place for him

Florida State transfer Xavier Peters said Friday at Kentucky’s Media Day that he had submitted a letter to the NCAA on Thursday as part of the waiver process he hopes will lead to him be eligible this year.

“We had to do quite a bit of legwork to get everything updated, all the information we needed for the appeal. I don’t know when that will happen,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Friday.

“We’ll just continue to work with him like anybody else. I mean, obviously, he can’t take first-team reps right now till we figure that out.”

Peters originally gave his verbal commitment to UK before flipping to Florida State just before signing day. However, he decided he want to get back closer to his son in Ohio and opted to transfer to UK.

“I needed to come back to be by my son,” Peters said.

Why not transfer to Cincinnati, which is much closer to his home?

“I can’t be in Cincinnati, there’s too many bad role models, it’s too close to home. I need a good 80 miles away from my son where I know it’s driveable and a good distance from Cincinnati,” Peters said.

Kentucky gave him that option and welcomed him back with open arms. He’s a big-time talent who could possibly have an impactful role this year if he’s ruled eligible.

Peters said his mother helped him decide getting a few miles away from Cincinnati would be better for him and still keep him close enough to his son without being close to those he said would “try to bring you down” daily.

He said he understood playing at Cincinnati would turn into a “bad idea” for him. Plus at Kentucky he would be playing in the Southeastern Conference.

“I’d rather be in the conference where I know I’ll get great exposure and coaches and scouts will look at me,” Peters said.

Peters said Florida State coach Willie Taggert told him he understood why he was transferred to be closer to his young son.

“It was a hard decision for me. He knows exactly where I’m coming from when it comes to my son,” Peters said.

Btw, Peters is from West Chester, Ohio, a 45 minute drive from downtown Cincinnati. My brother lives there. It is a very affluent area. Virtually every one I’ve met there talks down about Cincinnati. I doubt young Mr. Peters knows many people from Cincinnati and even fewer that attend the University of Cincinnati.

My memory is it takes about 50 minutes to drive from Cincinnati to Dayton, and West Chester Township is a suburb of Cincinnati, just north of I-275. I doubt that it takes 45 minutes to travel there from Cincinnati except under the most extreme traffic conditions. Therefore, the assertions made above about who Mr. Peters may know in Cincinnati seem odd at best, and agenda driven in all likelihood.